6 Life Skills Family Farming Teaches Kids

5/17/2018

The farm might be your livelihood, but it’s also teaching your kids valuable lessons along the way. They can take what they learn on the homestead just about anywhere and apply it to school, in a future job, or use it to take the family farm to the next level when they’re older. Here’s what they’re learning as they grow.

6 Life Skills Learned on the Family Farm

1. Work ethic

Chores have to get done on a farm — come wind, rain or snow. Sometimes that’s a hard lesson when you’d rather snuggle in a warm bed than collect eggs or milk cows. But an early morning routine and regular duties give kids a leg up on the late sleepers. Farm-raised children will never be strangers to working hard for their rewards, whether that’s a promotion at a future job or a fruitful harvest years down the road.

2. Teamwork

When there’s a big task to get done on the family farm, everyone pitches in. Even if each person’s role is a little different, people don’t put up their feet until all jobs are complete. This teamwork mentality translates well for farm kids who enter the workforce. They’ll work hard for a business and bolster their co-workers. In turn, they’ll always be in integral part of a company, or they’ll make great entrepreneurs leading their own teams.

3. Time management

Mother Nature can place interesting time constraints on farmers when it comes to planting and harvesting. That means there’s often little time to waste. While late spring and early fall can be stressful on the farm, those days can also help instill the importance of time management in your kids. When they’re older, they’ll skip procrastination and opt for rolling up their sleeves and getting the work done — whatever their field of choice.

4. Problem-solving

All their lives, farm kids witness what it means to problem-solve. On a farm, things break, and you either have to fix your equipment or find another way to do your task. Time is of the essence for putting food on America’s tables — not to mention your own. All these fix-it moments lead to a wealth of mechanical know-how and perseverance.

5. How to accept the things you cannot control

The weather can throw a big wrench into farming life. But farmers make the most of what they have and soldier on. This role modeling teaches farm kids to always do their best, even when life presents obstacles.

6. How to enjoy the simple things

All the hard work and the long days on the farm make life’s little rewards sweeter. These can be as simple as a beautiful sunset on the field’s horizon, a slice of pie made with homegrown rhubarb or a cool dip in the irrigation pond on a hot night. At the heart of it, farm life is fun and full of great memories that money can’t buy. A love for the simple things in life is something your kids can take far and wide.

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